During all of the hustle and chaos of the holidays, mixed in with the travel tumult, the piecemeal details on the horrific murder in Idaho, and a smorgasbord of freakish weather, the passing of a fly fishing icon slipped under the radar.
Dave Whitlock was one of the true apostles of the sport. He was engaging, smart, and knowledgeable, plus a great communicator. Whitlock also was blessed with tremendous insight and a million-dollar smile.
Whitlock, who died in Tulsa in late November at the age of 88, was taken to that trout stream on the other side of the horizon by a catastrophic stroke, the same thing that claimed my fly fisherman father at 76.
“Dave Whitlock is a legend,” said local fly fisherman and Sylvania native Brad Dunkle, who operates Wildwood Anglers guide service.
Whitlock is best known for the flies he developed that carry unique and creative names: Dave’s Hopper, NearNuff Crayfish, Whit’s Hopper, Diving Frog, and Whitlock’s Gorilla Damsel-Dragonfly.
But there were many other Whitlock flies, plus countless columns for many fishing and outdoors-related publications. Whitlock's first published article appeared in Field & Stream in 1968.
Whitlock later wrote and illustrated the L.L. Bean Fly-Fishing Handbook. L.L. Bean also entrusted Whitlock to direct its fly-fishing schools during the 1980s.
Fly Fishing Magazine called his Dave Whitlock’s Guide to Aquatic Trout Foods, which he both wrote and illustrated, “The most down-to-earth, practical book ever written on angling entomology.”
Born in the infamous Oklahoma town of Muskogee on the Arkansas River, Whitlock was already fishing the area streams before he reached 10 years old. His first fly fishing rig was a well-worn bamboo rod and reel his dad picked up at a pawn shop.
Whitlock's lengthy obituary in the New York Times detailed how his grandfather had once warned a young Dave that fly fishing was “a rich man's sport.” Whitlock spent his life opening fly fishing's doors to the masses.
“He always maintained an almost bashful country gentleman persona, with a wink and a smile and a friendly hand on the shoulder,” wrote Kirk Deeter, the editor for Trout, Trout Unlimited's magazine.
Whitlock the teacher, the author, the artist, the fly tyer, and the fly fisherman extraordinaire was beloved by all.
“He simply wanted people to find the essence, and the beauty of fly fishing, wherever the passion led them. He mentored by example,” Deeter wrote. “And that, to me, embodies what the true beauty of fishing really is. Dave Whitlock was, in every sense, a beautiful man, who cared very much about a beautiful sport, for all the right reasons, in all the right ways.”
Whitlock earned a science degree at Northeastern State University and worked as a research chemist in the oil industry, but at 35 years old he shifted gears and made fly fishing his career. His writings, his lectures, his creations, and his voice held a prominent place in the fly fishing world for the next half-century.
“I met him in Colorado a couple of times,” Dunkle said. “He did some fly-tying demos at our shop’s Christmas party with some other big-name tyers. He was the nicest guy in the world — super humble, down to earth, great energy, and he was always willing to slow down and show you what he’s doing and make it digestible.”
For most fly fishermen, Whitlock is one of fly fishing's Big Four, a heralded quartet that includes Lefty Kreh, Joe Brooks, and Lee Wulff.
“He’s definitely deserving to be on the Mount Rushmore of fly fishing,” Dunkle said. “Dave’s Hopper, Whit’s Hopper, and several other streamers and nymph patterns of his are probably in nine out of 10 fly fishermen’s fly boxes right now. To say he was impactful would be an understatement.”
First Published January 16, 2023, 7:45 p.m.
